NO REGULAR FRONT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 6 March 1942, Page 3

NO REGULAR FRONT

OWING TO INFILTRATION IN JAVA ENEMY OCCUPATION EXTENDING. DUTCH OFFICIAL REPORT. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 10.25 a.m.) RUGBY, March 5. Further Japanese landings in West Java have taken place, according to authoritative quarters in London, and tierce fighting is proceeding. A Batavia communique stales that the battle is now raging all over Java, and adds: “Because of the peculiar character of (he infiltration warfare, as a result of which the establishment of a regular front is completely impossible, it is difficult to give a clear review of the state of affairs. On the whole, however, the Japanese have a numerical superiority and are advancing continually. 'They have succeeded in this way, in spite of a heroic and courageous resistance by our troops, in occupying several places. Definite air superiority has contributed to the enemy successes. Sola and some places in East Java, such as Bodjonegoro, fell into the enemy hands. In West Java our troops have evacuated Krawang and also Poerwakarta and Tangerang, which have been occupied by the enemy. “In the course of an attack by our Hurricanes on an aerodrome at Kalidjati, occupied by the enemy, two of our aircraft were shot down. One of the pilots was slightly injured. The other saved himself uninjured. One Japanese Navv plane was shot down and another was damaged, while some Navyplanes were machine-gunned in a field. Yesterday morning sixteen bombers bombed an aerodrome near Bandoeng. The damage was very small. Some of the bombs fell in residential quarters, and a fire was started. Nobody was killed. In the course of an attack on Tjimahi, some persons were killed. During the attack on Bandoeng two enemy planes were shot down for certain, while a third most probably was shot down. This morning six Japanese bombers made a surprise attack on Bandoeng in hazy weather. Our antiaircraft guns shot down two enemy aircraft and damaged two others so seriously that most probably they would not be able to reach their base. Slight damage was done when Tjilatjap was raided yesterday.”